Hello & welcome back to A Look at Disney as we conclude our Mermaid event with the Ron Howard directed film starring Tom Hanks, and Daryl Hannah in the modern-day fairy tale, Splash. This isn't a bad movie by any stretch of the imagination but at the same time, I had some issues with it and I'll get into that more as we delve into the plot as there seem to be two separate movies going on here. On the one hand, you have the sweet and endearing romantic comedy with Alan and Madison but then you have the Eugene Levy character and it's clear to see why he was the inspiration for Mr. Crocker in Fairly Oddparents. With that outta the way, let's get to the plot.
The Plot
I wasn't sure how to tackle this review in terms of plot as Howard seems more interested in the characters and that really works in its favor. Now, this isn't to say I'll be ignoring the plot completely because this wouldn't be a complete review otherwise. With that outta the way, let's begin. The movie starts in the summer of 64 as the audience is given a good hint of the kind of people that the Bauer brothers are as Freddie is even at this young age, a womanizer that "drops" marbles to look up women's skirts and Allen is a young boy that keeps to himself but finds something in the water that fascinates him and takes a further gander at it, even though the young boy cannot swim and never learned as he grew older. Fast-forward to 84 and Allen and his brother now played by a dearly missed John Candy run a successful fruit business. This brings up an interesting point regarding Allen and his background, I think the job for Allen matters a little but not that much. Try to follow my train of thought here, Allen is successful but it's at a job that the average moviegoing audience could understand while not being a bland and boring desk job. One would hope that the genderswapped Channing Tatum remake of this movie (that's been stuck in development hell) would remember this lesson.
It's something small but I like this aspect of Allen's character That also brings us to Freddie as an adult and the characters of Allen and Freddie as brothers are really fun as brothers. Sure, we've seen the loud and quiet pairing brothers in other pieces of media but Hanks and Candy sell the chemistry of brothers that they are such a delight to watch and just makes them so enjoyable. As the movie progresses, we get more insight into the character of Allen and that he is a bit of a hopeless romantic and we are treated to an excellent scene displaying Hanks' acting as we get to see a drunk Allen after his girlfriend had dumped him. Hanks really sells a great performance here and makes you laugh while feeling bad for him, at the same time. We then see Allen attempt to run away from his sorrows by heading to Cape Cod in a taxi and I think that was about $600. Going by TaxiFareFinder, the price for a taxi ride from New York to Cape Cod today could go anywhere from $824.54 - $872.20 It would depend on the traffic going there and while this is a small and inconsequential but was fun to look up. And this is where is the movie becomes a mixed bag. The stuff with Allen and Madison is really great and is a highlight of the movie seeing them grow closer but the stuff with Eugene Levy is really bad and feels like it's out of a different movie.
Allen returns to Cape Cod, where he encounters eccentric scientist Dr. Walter Kornbluth (Eugene Levy). After Allen is left alone when his motorboat breaks down, he falls into the sea and is knocked out when the boat hits his head. He wakes up with a headache on a beach, where he encounters a beautiful naked woman with long blonde hair and the inability to talk
This is where the movie starts to divide as I have brought up and will bring up throughout this review, the Eugene Levy subplot in this movie feels tenuous at best and at worst, unneeded because there is already an element that brings dramatic tension to Madison's situation. First and foremost, there's the obvious character keeping a secret about a fantastical element of themselves and more importantly, there's the race against the clock element as Madison only has six days before she has to return to the sea. So, the whole idea of having an antagonistic scientist trying to prove the existence of a mermaid just leaves me with one big question.
For all intents and purposes, this is a romantic comedy with fantastical elements and those elements work great to tell a good story about people from two different worlds and walks of life coming together over time and falling in love as they get to know each other. Sure, there are some cliches that you might see in movies of this time such as Madison getting her name from a street. Akin to fan beloved Disney series, Gargoyles or how she learned the English language by watching TV. Even then, I can overlook those elements of this movie as Daryl Hannah is just so likable in this movie, even if Madison's naivety can be a bit much at times. Still, those elements are fun and are really the best part of the movie. Especially, how our as of yet mermaid finds Allen.
The mermaid finds Allen's wallet in the water and goes to a sunken boat where she finds a map. Using Allen's wallet to find where he is from, she then decides to find him in New York. She comes ashore naked at the Statue of Liberty, where she is arrested for indecent exposure. Using information from Allen's wallet, the police contact Allen, and the mysterious girl gets released into his care
I like this as well because it shows how apprehensive Allen is about taking this new beautiful woman into his life. And let's also touch on Daryl Hannah's nude scene here. (linked here as while this is a tasteful nude scene, I want to keep the blog family friendly) It's brief and handled in a very respectful manner as the camera doesn't leer on her and it never makes the audience feel wrong for looking at her. It instead makes the case that Madison doesn't know our world and is just confused about what is going on. I don't like judging movies that have yet to come out but I do have a feeling that if that genderswapped remake with Channing Tatum as a merman would play a scene in a manner that would be more jokey than what Howard portrayed with Hannah in this scene. Again, it's not fair to judge a movie that isn't even out yet and I'm here to review the original Splash but it is a thought that crossed my mind as I watched this movie. Oh, and we do get more of an explanation as to why Madison has to return in six days as the moon will be full and if she doesn't return, she can never go home. Time progresses and we see these two get closer to the point where Madison agrees to marry Allen and agrees that she will eventually tell him the truth at a dinner that was set up for them to go by Freddie that is a dignitary dinner for the US President. (Thankfully, not the orange rug that we are currently dealing with)
And this is when the Eugene Levy subplot collides with the good movie as Levy's scientist character has spent the movie trying to track down the mermaid that eluded him and prove her existence and he finally catches up with her and by throwing some water on her is able to prove that Madison is indeed a mermaid and of course, Madison is taken by the government and we are left with a heartbroken Allen as Freddie reminds him of how happy Allen was with her. Meanwhile, Eugene Levy's scientist starts to feel remorse as he discovers that there are plans to dissect and kill Madison. As that's more than what he planned as he only wanted to prove her existence and that he wasn't crazy. Isn't that always the case? Allen and Freddie find Levy's scientist and confront him and him being guilt-ridden, he agrees to help them to save Madison and they do and once again, the audience is shown what great brotherly love, Freddie and Allen have. The big climax comes when our heroes are being chased by a lot of troops, they make it to the water and Madison reveals that she was the young mermaid that saved Allen. And then we get one of the most iconic kisses for the 80s and rom com's in general, I'd argue that Madison and Allen's underwater kiss was for the 80s was Spider-Man and Mary-Jane's kiss was for the early 2000's. I might be off base but these are two iconic kisses that have such a great fantastical element to them that really adds to the moment.
In all, this is a great movie with just one flaw that I'm willing to overlook because other than the scientist subplot, this is a good movie that really shows that talent of all involved from the wonderful chemistry of Hanks and Hannah to Howard's really good directing and John Candy being a fun comic relief character that you actually like seeing but that could just be Candy being such a likable presence. With that outta the way, let's move onto characters
Characters
While a lot of actors appear in the movie, there are only a couple of characters that truly matter to this movie and I will only be looking at them.
Main Characters
Allen played by Tom Hanks
Allen is a likable guy but part of that comes from Hanks as Hanks is one of the charismatic actors working today and he just has a great warmth to him and that is seen here with Allen as he is a good guy that genuinely wants someone to love and yeah, has some bad luck in that area. He's not as what so many say, "A Nice Guy" just being nice to get with someone. He's the genuine deal as he really does care for the people in his life, even if they frustrate him.
Madison played by Daryl Hannah
I feared that Madison was going to be a character that I would find problematic and date the movie and that would be problems that were okay in the 80s but not okay in 2018. Thankfully, that was not the case with Madison. Sure, her naivety could be seen as an issue but Madison is a very endearing character that is just very sweet and the most likable character in the whole movie.
Supporting Character
Freddie played by John Candy
Candy was such a likable presence in this movie. He was fun and yeah, a little sleazy but that worked for his character. He never went into obnoxious mode as so many of these characters can. I think one of the big things that helped make him work so well is that Howard knew the story should focus on Allen and Madison and the audience doesn't need that much of Freddie and that makes it even more of a treat when he does show up.
Antagonist
Dr. Walter Kornbluth played by Eugene Levy
I apologize for not using the character's name but Kornbluth is such an uninteresting character that adds very little to the plot and just feels like an unneeded obstacle when the movie already has the six days until the full moon thing. Levy is a fine actor and he does well in this role but his subplot takes away from the time that we are spending seeing Allen and Madison getting to know each other better.
My Final Thoughts
Other than the scientist subplot, this is a great movie and I'm glad that I took the time to watch it. As it's a very sweet romantic comedy with two wonderful leads. Peace!
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